For the first week in three fund investors were net purchasers of fund assets (including those of conventional funds and exchange-traded funds [ETFs]), injecting $1.3 billion for the week ended May 13. Tom highlights flows for both conventional funds and ETFs in this week's fund flows video.

Investor activity resulted in $7.4 billion of net inflows to funds for the flows week ended September 10, 2014. Pat Keon, a Lipper research analyst, talks about the flows for both conventional mutual funds and ETFs in this week's fund flows video.

During the second quarter mutual funds and ETFs both had solid net inflows with equities taking in $49 billion net as the market grinned higher helping to bolster investor confidence that the 2013 rally was sustainable. U.S. taxable mutual funds also had positive net inflows of $35 billion following Q1 net inflows of $37 billion. Municipal bonds mutual funds were positive for the second consecutive quarter with $5 billion in net inflows. Money markets had a negative outflow of -$60.4 billion as investors appeared to be putting cash to work in taxable fixed income, muni and equity products.

Mutual fund investors made modest additions to their accounts this week, but ETF investors were clearly excited by the Fed's refusal to taper its asset purchases; equity ETFs had net inflows of $15.5 billion.

The worst performance of the Barclays Aggregate index since the throes of the crisis underscored how universally challenged bond fund managers were in Q2 2013. Just one long-only bond classification managed to win a positive total return while many suffered losses of 3% or more. Treasuries, corporates, sovereigns, and munis and more faced considerable headwinds in a "good news is bad news" market.

Despite some sluggishness in June (the average equity fund declined 2.10%), the average equity fund remained in the black for Q2, returning 0.31% and producing a fourth consecutive quarter of plus-side returns. Although many stocks set new highs during the quarter, investors turned their attention to domestic, quasi-defensive, and out-of-favor issues.Tom highlights investment trends for equity funds during Q2 2013 and provides his outlook for next quarter in this WebEx replay of Lipper's Second Quarter 2013 Fund Performance Review and Outlook.

With U.S. equity markets last Friday closing down for four of the last five weeks, it was clear that investors continued to be spooked by the thought of “tapering” by the Federal Reserve. The hope that Chairman Bernanke’s recent press conference would calm nerves fell flat as the S&P 500 experienced this past week its largest two-day drop since last November. The concern seemed that it would be short lived, since on Monday the Dow was able to rebound nearly 473 points from its mid-day low. This was driven by upbeat economic news as well as tamer reiterations from the Fed that any pullback of quantitative easing would be based on the economic outlook, which may not be as great as it had previously suggested. Unfortunately, this late rally in stocks did not deter investors from pulling back some of their fund exposure.

With little news during the week on earnings or new economic numbers, many investors were stuck picking up the pieces, looking toward June 19, when the next Fed meeting takes place. As a result, continued choppiness in the equity markets kept many fund investors on edge; U.S. mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) (excluding money market funds) reported net outflows of $7.7 billion for the week ended June 13.

Reinforced commitment from the Fed and better-than-expected nonfarm payroll numbers helped convince investors to continue pushing up the U.S. equity markets. New tops for domestic stock indices and limited opportunities for yield from bonds fed demand for riskier assets. While many analysts advised caution, it proved too hard not to participate, and investors injected roughly $16.6 billion net into mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) (excluding money market funds) for the week ended May 8.

Investors seemed to be hung over for the week ended Wednesday, April 24, after news that included a fake AP tweet about explosions at the White House and bleak economic reports. Investors are having difficulty judging the first quarter corporate earnings season, with some of the wild market swings caused by conflicting reports. The funds business (including conventional funds and exchange-traded funds [ETFs]) saw net redemptions of $7.0 billion. Tom talks about this week’s trends in fund flows.

It was not long after both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed at new all-time highs on Thursday, April 11, that investors started to show concern over the sustainability of the recent rally. News from China kicked off broad selling on Monday, April 15; China reported disappointing Q1 GDP and March industrial production numbers. Weakness in the broader commodity markets, including the largest ever one-day drop in the price of gold, also helped fuel investors’ concerns; volatility jumped and the global markets continued to shed value through Wednesday. Despite the strong selloff in stocks, U.S. mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), excluding money market funds, reported net inflows of $6.5 billion for the week ended April 17.

Matthew Lemieux reviews preliminary mutual fund flow numbers for the first quarter 2013 in this WebEx replay. Overall, U.S. conventional mutual funds posted net inflows of $118.0 billion, with taxable bond funds taking in $55.5 billion of the total. Investors finally seemed to break through their post-recession malaise for stock funds and they poured over $90.0 billion into U.S. based equity products. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continued to draw assets, posting $50.4 billion for the same period. Municipal bond funds added $9.5 billion to their accounts as investors pulled cash from money market funds (-$98.5 billion) to feed their demand for riskier assets.

Worries over the short-term health of the Eurozone brought on by the Cyprus banking crisis briefly sent investors back to Treasuries, and the sudden 21-basis-point hike in the ten-year note (to 2.07%) at the start of March was erased over the rest of the month. Although General US Treasury Funds lost 0.80% on the quarter, most of that loss was felt in January (-1.71%) when equities surged and "The Great Rotation" was supposedly afoot. Meanwhile, corporate bond investors sent Lipper's High Yield Funds classification near the top of the performance table as investors pursued more "risk-on" strategies in U.S. bonds throughout the quarter and sent that group up 2.74%.

Investors generally shrugged off the Cyprus banking crisis, Italy's inability to form a new coalition government, and U.S. sequestration during the first quarter of 2013, focusing instead on upbeat economic news and continued support by the Fed, pushing a few of the major indices to all-time highs. For the quarter, equity mutual funds posted their second best Q1 performance since 1998. Tom highlights investment trends for equity funds during Q1 2013 and provides his outlook for next quarter in this WebEx replay of Lipper's First Quarter 2013 Fund Performance Review and Outlook.

During the past week many investors tried to decipher the possible effects of a Cypriot exit from the Eurozone and the knock-on consequences of a bailout structured on the shoulders of savers. Although an agreement for a European Central Bank-led bailout was reached over the weekend, the initial rally in the markets on Monday was short lived as analysts still wondered what the bank restructuring would mean for other European countries. Despite the concerns, U.S. indices trended upward for most of the week as investors focused on strong home price and manufacturing numbers, a momentum that would push both the Dow and the S&P 500 to close out March at record highs. Fund investors also did not seem rattled by any new Eurozone risks; mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), excluding money market funds, recorded net inflows of $4.5 billion.

Excluding ETF activity, investors kept their foot on the pedal, padding the coffers of equity mutual funds to the tune of $3.0 billion net. Domestic equity funds witnessed net inflows of $1.4 billion, while their nondomestic equity fund counterparts took in some $1.6 billion. However, for the second consecutive week both municipal debt funds (-$113 million) and money market funds (-$2.4 billion) suffered net redemptions as investors remained in a risk-on mode. During the week investors continued to inject net new money into taxable bond funds (+$1.8 billion), which still cast a shadow over the mainstream media’s prediction of a grand rotation out of fixed income funds into equity funds.

With the second month of the year behind us, things seemed to be continuing to move in the right direction in terms of both the economy and the financial markets. Although most stocks did not provide as strong returns as in January, year-to-date performance through February stood at roughly 6% for the broader U.S. equity indices. On generally good employment news, the upwardly revised Q4 2012 GDP numbers, and strong exports out of China, investors continued to show confidence by pushing markets to new highs. Initial concerns over the enactment of sequestration on March 1 were pushed to the wayside as the Dow closed at an all-time high on Tuesday, March 5. General feelings of optimism paved the way for continued strength in fund flows; investors injected roughly $10.8 billion into mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the week.

After a quick pop in the market late last week on stronger economic numbers at home and in China, investors seemed to be sitting on their hands as most U.S. indices moved sideways during and after the run-up to President Obama’s first second-term State of the Union address. Despite the general pause, investors continued to allocate new money to the funds business. For the week ending February 13, 2013, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) (excluding money market funds) reported net inflows of $4.4 billion.

Investors continued to show optimism in the global equity markets as better than expected export news out of China and continued weakness in the Japanese yen boosted Asian indices. With a strong Q4 earnings season kickoff at home, the U.S. markets joined suit; the S&P 500 index added just over three-quarters of a percentage point for the week ending Wednesday, January 16. Combine the 3%-plus returns we have seen so far this year with the previous week’s large equity fund flows, and one would expect the perfect recipe for continued buying.

During the first full week of fund flows for the new year, investors were net purchasers of fund assets to the tune of $34.2 billion. Equity funds, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), took in a whopping $18.3 billion for the week ended Wednesday, January 9, 2013, their fourth largest net inflows since Lipper began calculating weekly flows in January 1992. Tom discusses the flows trends for the industry in this podcast.